MacKenzie Scott has selected 380 more charities to donate. "I have a disproportionate amount of money to share," she wrote. She wants to offload her fortune as quickly as possible, her aides said. The main source of the wealth is her $38 billion divorce settlement and there is a continuous flow from Amazon.

Leaders of several countries who had had contact with Macron in the last few days have gone into preventive quarantine. They include Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and European Council president Charles Michel and OECD secretary-general Angel Gurria.

Anil Vij had tested positive for coronavirus and admitted to the civil hospital in Ambala on December 5, a fortnight after he participated in the Covaxin clinical trial by taking the first jab. Later he was shifted to PGI Rohtak and on Tuesday to Medanta in Gurgaon in a critical condition. Currently he is on high flow nasal cannula oxygen support.

Coronavirus infection has shown a declining trend in India in the last few days with daily cases staying well below 30,000, and the deaths below 400. The intensity of the pandemic is easing in the country. Worst hit Maharashtra and Delhi are reporting improvement of the situation. However, the Government has warned against any complacency lest there is a recrudescence. In Tamil Nadu, social, political, sports, educational, cultural and entertainment gatherings will be allowed with a maximum capacity of 50 per cent in open spaces from December 19.

It is most likely that misinformation is going to play havoc with people's lives in the countryside vis-a-vis vaccines for the coronavirus pandemic. How to keep the ordinary people with little access to right information out of harm's way is going to be a challenging task now. With 'vaccine' on everyone's lips these days, the swindlers have the field day.

Especially when prescription has become a matter of public domain with politicians making medical announcements. When Presidents and Prime Ministers like Donald Trump prescribe medicines - and people have died - what to talk of the ordinary people. Or when the world's top-most health expert makes an ugly statement that mask is not meant for the common man or that repurposing dexamethasone is the "green shoot" in the fight against corona, how do we blame the ordinary people for getting into the clutches of the conmen!

Cheating is common incidence on the Net and the pandemic has provided a golden opportunity to swindlers for spreading misinformation in order to dupe people easily. Fake remedies and vaccines have gone on sale online.

COMMENT: The nursing staff union at the AIIMS is on indefinite strike, not because some injustice has been done to any of them. They are dictating how the AIIMS should make appointments. Rather, they have decided that the AIIMS should not make contractual appointments. It reminds one of the union days of 1970s when, whether private or Government, an employee could not even be shifted from one section to another without triggering a strike. There used to be thousands of workers' unions on the roads in Delhi those days every day, striking work and blocking traffic. Nobody could do anything about it. All these were due to the self-seeking leaders who were building up their parties and canvassing their vote banks; and they were the real exploiters. Our type of democracy allowed it. And who were the losers in that game? The working class, getting a pension of Rs 500 per month today! They would have been, instead, flourishing today with prosperity and self-respect, without any 'ism'. In a genuine democratic set-up this type of decadent unionism will not rear its head. Because those opportunities will be absent. India does not have such a 'functional democracy,' a democracy that will work for everyone. It is not in our Constitution!

Taiwan tech company Wistron stated that 5,000 contract labourers and 2,000 unknown people vandalised its factory, and indulged in looting and arson, leading to huge losses in terms of equipment, mobile phones and other electronic goods.

The covid-infected students at the hostels said overcrowding at the mess led to the widespread transmission. In hostels masks are not worn. Of the staff infected, four are mess workers.

Nadda had, before getting covid-infected, visited Bengal. And a Centre-State spat had followed his tour as his convoy was allegedly attacked by members of the Trinamool Congress at Diamond Harbour. The Centre summoned the police officers responsible for Nadda's security but the State Government has ignored the order.

Originally Air India had belonged to the Tatas who pioneered civil aviation in India. It was nationalised by a Russia-inspired Nehru. What is surprising is why the new Government should take millennia to get rid of the blood-sucking white elephant. Kudos to Arun Shourie for the smartness in doing those little things upon becoming a Minister once upon a time, in no time!

Can Pfizer's mRNA vaccine be called a vaccine. It is not a vaccine in the conventional sense. mRNA is a new technology being used in human beings for the first time. It is a code that instructs cells in the body to make the virus's distinctive 'spike' protein that serves the purpose of vaccine. That is, our own cells are made to produce the vaccine in our body. Are there any genetic issues?

The Railways has after several decades rectified a design fault in its lower side berth in sleeper coaches which makes the night very uncomfortable and painful for the unfortunate traveller who gets the allotment of that type of berth. A bed has now been fixed on the side which can be pulled up and spread on the seats for the night.

COMMENT: This ongoing midsummer madness of belated electoral fraud allegations and litigation - coming from the head of the state - is one other indicator of the degeneration of the 'sacred' American democratic polity to Indian standard! (Also see the petty politicians coming to the fore and jockeying and lobbying with the Democratic transition team for top posts in the new Government, which was never there before) The funniest thing, and most damaging for every American, is that the President of the most powerful United States of America began moaning two months before the election about an Opposition Democratic plan to rig the election! If so, at that time what was he doing? Always it's the ruler who would be accused of rigging an election. But here bizarre things are happening. Not enough, Trump has now tweeted: "Joe Biden will not set foot in that White House."

The condition of choreographer, filmmaker and director Remo D'souza was reported stable late Friday night after he underwent angioplasty following a heart attack. He is in the ICU at Kokilaben hospital, Mumbai.

Trump's moves to water down Obama's DACA programme have received a setback in the court of law like in the case of H-1B visa curbs - regulations which he introduced through executive orders shortcircuiting Congressional route. The court said the administration failed to show "good cause" in rushing the curbs. Obama's DACA programme is back with immediate effect and made more flexible, clearing the way for a smooth implementation of Biden's policies.

There have always been only Second Ladies as there was never a woman Vice-President in American history for a male spouse to be there. Now since she has come, Joe Biden's transition team was placed in a quandary how to address Kamala's hubby! The matter has been resolved now. It has been decided that Doug Emhoff, Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris's husband, will be addressed as Second Gentleman, along the lines of 'Second Lady'.

Trump has still not given up Georgia, where the result remains same even after a third counting of the ballots. He, the President of the United States of America, unabashedly told a rally in Valdosta on Saturday that "we won Georgia." Earlier, he told the General Assembly to re-write the election law so that the electoral college voters can be hand-picked to vote for him!

The Georgia University researchers said antiviral drug Molnupiravir completely suppresses transmission of covid within 24 hours by stopping replication. Clinical trial is going on but it is not clear when the drug might be available. It is an oral pill to be taken twice a day for 5 days.

'Thirdly, in the rarest of rare cases, a vaccine can also cause the same infection which it is sought to prevent, through the attenuated or deactivated viral fragment the vaccine carries.'